LAS VEGAS — T.Y. Hilton caught two touchdown passes and Jonathan Taylor rushed for two more as the Indianapolis Colts gathered a crucial 44-27 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on the road on Sunday.
Taylor rushed for a career-high 150 yards on 20 carries.
With his first 120 scrimmage yards, he became only the fourth Colt to reach 1,000 scrimmage yards in their first 12 games, joining Edgerrin James, Marshall Faulk, and Joseph Addai.
“We talked about all week just dialing in getting ready for this game and walking off the field the most physical team, and I think we accomplished that against and good and dangerous team,” said head coach Frank Reich. “So, I feel good about the way we played today.”
The Colts opened the game with a 10 play 68-yard drive led by the running prowess of Taylor to set up the first of what would be three field goals on the day for kicker Rodrigo Blankenship.
Hilton would gather his first TD catch of the day on the Colts next drive after the defense forced the Raiders’ offense to go three-and-out on their opening drive.
Hilton caught another pass from Philip Rivers for a 41-yard touchdown later in the second quarter before Blankenship would at another field goal giving the Colts a 20-14 halftime lead.
Defensive back Kenny Moore added an insane interception of Raiders quarterback Derek Carr in the first half as well.
“That was unbelievable,” Reich said. “I had to stop for a second and think, ‘did he catch that ball?’ It was one of those almost once-in-a-lifetime catches, just a tremendous play.”
The offense kept pouring on with the running game in the second half between Taylor, Nyheim Hines, and Jordan Wilkins. Taylor and Hines both had touchdowns in the second half, most notably a 62-yard scamper by Taylor which would be the longest scoring play from scrimmage for the Colts this season.
Together the trio would finish the day with 212-yards rushing. Rivers finished the day with 244 yards passing and two touchdowns and did not throw an interception.
“It’s hard to get yards in this league,” said Taylor of his performance. “So, getting a bit of fresh air is definitely fulfilling. But, we’ve got to begin again starting next week.”
The Colts defense sealed the win with an interception returned for a touchdown off a tipped pass from Carr.
Indy moves to 9-4 on the season and are still tied atop the AFC South with the Tennessee Titans. The Titans still hold the tiebreaker over the Colts after their win over Jacksonville on Sunday.
The Colts next have the Houston Texans for the second time in three weeks at Lucas Oil Stadium at 1:00 p.m. EDT next Sunday.
